Read my gamer and my notebook from Minnesota United's 3-1 loss Saturday to the San Jose Earthquakes. And now let's hear from Eric Miller.
The outside back has only been with United for a little more than a week, and he's played in two games, missing one with a hamstring injury he picked up in his first game a week ago. But he already seems to be a very solid addition to the squad, despite being thrown into a bit of a defensive quandry, with individual mistakes proving costly again and again.
Miller, though, said in general, he's happy with the defensive effort.
"Guys are working really hard. Guys are running, and guys are doing their jobs defensively and offensively. We were just making some critical errors ,and it is costing us goals," he said. "I think there is a lot of quality here, but we need to make teams earn things a little bit more. I think we give a lot of cheap goals here. I think a lot of times, just with how good we are going forward , hat we leave things a little bit exposed at the back. That is something that we have to find the right balance of. It is great to have the ball, and it is great to be a team that goes forward and controls the flow of the game, but we have to make sure our shape behind the ball is good. So that if teams are scoring on us, which is inevitable, that they're earning it and are scoring great goals, and we're not digging holes for ourselves to get out of."
While coach Adrian Heath and team captian Francisco Calvo both said the soft goal are not solely the responsiblity of the defense, Miller said the back line doesn't necessarily need more help from the midfield and attackers.
"It goes both ways. If you have a really good back four, you should be able to defend against six, seven or eight guys if you're really tight and locked in," Miller said. "Obviously, if your center midfielders can help, and they can do a good job, then it makes everything easier. Ideally, you have 11 guys defending and doing a good job, and your back four is your last line of defense when called upon."
Check out my Facebook Live below or click here. Also enjoy a video from Heath's postgame press conference.
